Absolute Superman #25
“Get Brainiac” Finale
“A Walk in the Mind of a Madman”
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Juan Ferreyra, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Rafa Sandoval
Colorist: Ulises Arreola
Cover Artist: Rafa Sandoval and Ulises Arreola
Publisher: DC Comics
Absolute Superman reaches issue #25, and Kal-El finally catches up with Brainiac. Is Kal able to confront the monster without becoming one himself? And what role will Alexander Luthor play?
End of the Line
Superman and Steel finally locate Brainiac and are ready to end the creature’s reign of terror. But Brainiac isn’t done yet. Using swarms of miniature clones of himself as bombs, he wreaks countless deaths and destruction below. He promises to do the same to Smallville, Kansas, unless Kal-El joins him on his ship.
Once onboard, Superman is forced to mentally live through Brainiac’s life, as the monster hopes to turn him into one as well.
Elsewhere, Lois Lane locates Alexander Luthor—or at least what’s left of him…
In the Mouth of Madness
When the Absolute Universe was first announced, I wasn't very interested. It looked to me like it was just going to be relentlessly grimdark versions of DC's Trinity, with nary a bright spot to be found. Superman, in particular, didn't excite me at all. The long hair? The cape made from the “dust and ash of Krypton?” He sounded like the most angsty, emo edgelord version of the character possible. When the book launched, I sat it out. But I kept hearing how good it actually was, so when the first trade paperback hit, I checked it out.
Yeah. I was so very wrong about this one.
For the past twenty-four issues, Absolute Superman has been an amazing read month after month, telling a Superman story that is something we’ve never seen before while still conveying the core of the character that has made him endure for over eighty years. Now, with issue #25, everything from the past two years comes to a head.
One of the things that I’ve liked the most about this series is how it continually defies expectations. When Superman and Steel catch up to Brainiac, I was expecting a knock-down, drag-out fight in true “anniversary issue” fashion. I never expected Brainiac to want Kal to enter his mind. I certainly never expected him to have Kal mentally live through his life as a Brainiac drone, with those sequences drawn by the same artist who drew the original issue.
Normally, anniversary issues will draw on or reference the characters and stories that led up to them. It’s not very often that they pull in and tie together elements of all the preceding issues, even going so far as to use the original artists, as this issue does.
By trying to make Kal-El live through his life, Brainiac hopes to turn the Last Son of Krypton into a monster like him. And he almost succeeds. But thanks to everything Kal—Clark—has been through, he is able to draw strength from the things he’s seen, the people he’s met, and the friends he’s made, overcoming the monster’s attempt at control. It’s a powerful moment that never would have been possible twenty-four issues ago.
Elsewhere in the issue, we get several more glimpses into the lives of Jor-El and Lara, showing us how they met and fell in love. This look into the past shows us that even if Krypton had survived, Kal-El still would have grown into the same man he’s become, because his parents were good people who loved him more than anything.
The influence of family, or rather the loss of it, is also felt elsewhere in this issue when Lois Lane locates Alexander Luthor. What she finds is a crazed, broken shell of a man who lost literally everything to Brainiac’s madness. I know how I have felt when I’ve lost someone close to me, but I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to lose your entire family all at once—and right in front of you.
After hearing that Brainiac had been found, Lex suddenly springs to life and takes off. It’s then that Lois learns the man isn’t as broken as she thought—he’s actually much more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.
What we get following this scene is a take on Lex Luthor that contains the classic core of his character—he hates aliens, and for a damn good reason—but his ire isn’t directed at Superman, at least not initially. In fact, he doesn’t even know who Clark is. No, his rage is directed straight at Brainiac, and his role in the resolution to Clark’s conflict with the monster is one I didn’t see coming.
When this series started in issue #1, Kal-El was lost and alone, just trying to hold on to the little pieces of his home that remained. He just wanted to survive. Now, in issue #25, he has completed his journey to face his demons, build a life with friends and family, and become the man that we always knew he could be. Darkseid may have built the Absolute Universe in order to break his foes, in particular the Man of Steel—but he didn’t understand that Superman is unbreakable. He’s the very best of us, and he’ll always rise above the darkness to show us how we can climb if we only focus on the good things in our lives. A better tomorrow.
Jam Session
Jason Aaron is a great writer, and I’m a big fan of his. But I wasn’t sure about him writing a version of Superman, especially in the dark Absolute Universe. I really did expect the whole “grimdark edgelord” I mentioned earlier. Instead, Aaron has proved that he understands the character at a level that most writers don’t quite reach. His version of Superman has become one of my favorites—probably ever—and I’ve seen a lot of different takes in my time. The way he ties together so many different plot threads in this issue and makes them all pay off is the kind of thing that the late Peter David did better than almost anyone else, so that’s some pretty awesome company to be in.
When a book has multiple artists, it usually drives me crazy. See many of my recent Green Lantern reviews for examples. Half the time, it feels like they were assigned pages at random and there’s no cohesiveness to the art. Here, we have three different artists, which should positively terrify me—but it’s done with a purpose. All three of these artists have worked on this title leading up to this issue, and they return here to draw sequences that tie back to their original work.
Current artist Juan Ferreyra handles the majority of the art for this issue, and he brings the same dynamic style he’s given the previous issues. The scenes of miniature Brainiacs raining down like bombs, causing untold death and destruction, are horrifying, as is the payoff of Lex’s appearance late in the issue. His version of Superman remains both powerful and vulnerable at the same time, which is often a difficult needle to thread. And his depiction of Superman’s cape is always a sight to behold.
Original artist Rafa Sandoval returns for the Jor-El and Lara sequences, giving those a nice bookend feel as they tie back to the start of the series. His style is a more “traditional” one, which fits well with the tale of two individuals from a lower caste meeting and falling in love. We don’t often get to see Superman’s birth parents as actual people—they’re usually held up as reminders of what he’s lost—so these scenes are particularly powerful.
Our third artist is Carmine Di Giandomenico, who illustrated the original Brainiac origin issues and returns here to bring us Kal-El’s trip into the monster’s mind. He brings many of the same panel layouts and camera angles to these scenes, really selling how Brainiac is trying to make Clark break in the same way that he did. Too bad the monster underestimated the humanity and heart within the Kryptonian, which helps him break through the cycle Brainiac placed him in.
Colorist Ulises Arreola brings all these artists together and makes the issue feel truly cohesive. The Krypton scenes are brightly rendered, as befits the happier tone of these scenes. The scenes in Brainiac’s mindscape are darker and more horrifying, which better portrays the monster’s attempts to break Clark. And the current-day sequences, which I think Ferreyra still colors himself, are consistent with recent issues in their bright and hopeful feel. This is not to say that scenes like those at Lex’s home aren’t given a dark and eerie tone by washing them in a single, darker shade, as is done here.
For Tomorrow
Absolute Superman #25 is an incredible issue that ties together everything that transpired in the series up to this point and gives us a finale that defies expectations but makes perfect sense. It may be an alternate-universe title, but the version of Superman featured here is one of the strongest and purest forms of the character I’ve seen in a long time. He’s a shining example of what is possible if you push back against the darkness in the world and try to be a source of good and light instead. I have no idea where this title is going from here, but I can’t wait to find out.